A Healing Savior | John 4:43-54 (Seth Miller: 7-16-2023)

The speaker begins with a prayer, expressing gratitude for the life-giving power of God's Word. They discuss their experience playing golf in high school and how their coach made them practice short putts repeatedly to develop muscle memory. They relate this to the theme of faith in Jesus Christ, which John presents throughout the book of John. The speaker then analyzes a passage in John chapter 4, highlighting the contrast between sincere faith and false faith. They emphasize the importance of sincere faith in Jesus' words. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the need for a growing faith that seeks the Savior, is satisfied with His words, and is passed on to future generations. Father, we are grateful that Your Word does speak life into the hearts of sinners. We are thankful that You have given us a clear and defined Word through Your Son, that by looking to Him in faith that we would have life eternal. And so, Lord, we do pray that You would give us Your Spirit in full measure, in full supply, so that we might hear Your Word and live. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. I spent most of my high school years on a golf course. I played golf frequently. I was on a high school golf team. And so, I spent most of my time in my high school life on a golf course. And for our golf practices, we would often have our coaches assign us a routine and really a task that we didn't enjoy. And what our coach would tell us to do before each and every practice is to go around the golf hole and put tees all the way around three feet from the hole. And these are short little putts that we'd have to make over and over until we made 25 of them. And we couldn't stand this drill because it was so mundane. It was so basic. We wanted to be out on the driving range, hitting it as far as we possibly could. And so, when our coach made us do this, we would often just skip through it. But the reason why he would make us perform such a drill like that, it was because when tournaments came and you were under the pressure and you had that three-foot putt, that needed to be second nature. That needed to be muscle memory for you. And the reason why I tell you this is because John presents a very simple theme, faith in Jesus Christ. We see that at the end of the book, that the reason why I write these things to you is that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the Messiah and that by believing in His name, you might have eternal life. Very, very simple theme that he presents to his readers, and it's a theme that he presents over and over and over again in this book. Every single account we have is driving towards one point, and it's towards faith in Jesus Christ. And that's precisely what we see in our text this morning in John chapter 4. It's a passage, it's a story about a man who has faith in Jesus Christ. And of course, John wants to contrast faith from false faith. You'll see this, of course, even in greater color and detail in John chapter 6, where the crowds have been following Christ. And then the prophet speaks, and he begins to speak hard words, and so the crowds disappear. And so you might remember that Jesus asked Peter, will you too leave? And Peter says, where shall I go? You have the words of eternal life. That's the kind of faith that John is wanting to bring before you this morning in this account here in John chapter 4. So in order to do that, I want to impress three simple points upon you this morning. First, we want to see a sincere faith. Second, we want to see a needy faith. And then thirdly, and finally, we want to see a growing faith. Look again with me at verse 43 and 44. After two days, he departed for Galilee, for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown. So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast. This seems to be just merely a transitional section that's getting us from one point of the story here with the woman at the Samaritan well to this story about the official and his son. And perhaps we would be tempted to just glance over what is occurring here in these few verses. In fact, the ESV actually puts it in the previous section, but really it does belong with the section of Scripture we're looking at this morning. And this is a point where many commentators and scholars will come along and point out contradictions in the Bible. And you can kind of see where they might get a contradiction here just in two verses. It says that Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown. And then you look at verse 45, it says the Galileans welcomed him. And so someone might come along and say, look, John is contradicting himself. Can't you see it so clearly? The Bible is full of contradictions. You can't trust it because John here, just one sentence after the next, contradicts himself and makes himself look foolish. Well perhaps we might want to give John the benefit of the doubt here in his gospel writing. For of course, it would be really something for him to contradict himself just one sentence after the next, first of all. But I think he's actually showing a very important point to us about faith. Look at the source of their welcome. It wasn't true honor for Christ. It says, verse 45, when he came to Galilean, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem. You see, these people that were waiting for Jesus to return back to Galilee, they weren't ready to honor him as the prophet, but they were wanting to see the signs. They had witnessed, of course, that Jesus had turned water into wine in John chapter 2. They had heard that he was a miracle worker, and they were thinking that now that Jesus returned back to their region, they can see some more signs. And you want to see very clearly by these just few verses that John is contrasting a sincere faith against a false faith, a faith that seeks after the sensation, not the salvation, a faith that wants to seek after a sign, not the thing signified. In other words, they're not looking to hear Christ's word. They want to see his wonders. And that's what's driving the people to welcome Christ. And Jesus knew the hearts of men, as it says at the end of John chapter 2. He knew the hearts of men and needed no further testimony about them. He knew that what was in their hearts was not a sincere belief. They wanted a stimulating spiritual experience. Of course, this is the kind of shallow welcome that lacks true honor for Christ that seems to be a problem even to this day. I remember visiting a church some years ago where I walked into the service and the pastor was up there saying, what miracle do you need today? Do you need a relationship that needs to be fixed? Do you need a problem of yours, a health issue to be healed? Well, come to Jesus Christ. He will do it all for you. What miracle do you desire? That is a shallow welcome of Christ. It's welcoming him just for what he can do for you, not necessarily for who he is. And this isn't the kind of faith that John would have us have. Rather, he would have a true honor for Christ. There are many motivations to welcome Christ, but there's only one true motivation to honoring Christ, and that's sincere faith in his word of promise. There are many things that you could come to Christ for, whether it's self-confidence, whether it's a community of people that you can hang out with. There are many motivations, but what John would have you to see is that true honor for Christ hears him and takes him at his words. Well, the spiritual diagnosis of those who seek after signs, they lack sincerity and faith, and you can kind of see this in verse 48, where Jesus is actually speaking to the whole crowd that have gathered to welcome him. He says, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. That's the spiritual problem that is plaguing Israel at this time. But what John wants to do is contrast that with a true faith. It's a faith that needs Christ. Of course, we'll find here the story about an official whose son is ill, and it's his need that drives him to Christ. A couple of years ago, there was a gut-wrenching story that I saw that was published by several news outlets about a family who lived in the UK, and they had a child who was ill by some kind of severe epilepsy, and he had been on ventilation in a hospital for over a year, and the doctors had decided that there was nothing more they could do, that they needed to pull him off of life support. And so this family, of course, was desperate. They knew that their son's life was about to end, and so they contacted doctors all over Europe and actually found a doctor in Italy that was willing to perform an experimental procedure on the child to see if he might recover. And so they requested the hospital system to give them a transfer to Italy, and yet they refused. And so this family goes to the court, asks the court, can you give us some kind of relief so we can take our child to get healed in Italy, and they denied that request. They take it up another level, and that request was denied. It was a horrific story about the desperation of this family wanting healing for their child. I'm sure many of you could even relate to that kind of fear and concern over a child, that kind of desperation that you would do anything to see your child be well. Well certainly this man that we find here in verses 46 and 47, that same kind of sense of desperation that drives him to Christ. Look at verse 46. So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So here is an official, likely an official in the service of King Herod, likely a wealthy man who had all the resources at his disposal and probably had reached out to every single kind of physician in that region, and yet he was out of options. He had nothing else he could do. And so what does he do? He goes and seeks out this obscure miracle worker in Galilee. You know, when one old minister said this about the kind of pain this man had, is that some crosses drive men to Christ, especially those crosses in our children. This was the cross that subdued Egypt. And to great men such as this ruler, who have much to leave their children, this cross is the greatest. And so it was the looming death of his child that was the affliction that drove him to seek out this obscure miracle worker in Galilee, as certainly his desperation would have caused him to plead with Jesus, I hear that you are the one that has turned water into wine. Come down, heal my son. But notice next how Jesus stops him and inserts this hard word in verse 48 that, of course, yes, it's directed at the crowds, but really it's directed at him as well. So Jesus said to him, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. At one level, he is dealing with the crowds who think to themselves, well, here's the man who has a desperate need. He's coming to Christ. Certainly Christ will not deny him. And so the crowds might have thought, OK, we are getting a good show today. But I think what Jesus is also doing here by putting them out, he is trying to draw faith out of this man. Jesus is drawing out his need for him, demonstrating to the crowd that this man wasn't like them. That he came to Christ with a great need. He was no longer an official in Herod's service when he is before the true Lord of the universe. No, he is just a sinner, poor and needy, coming with a great need that only Jesus could supply. And don't you love the persistence of this man in verse 49? He doesn't back down for one second. The official said to him, sir, come down before my child dies. Such a sincere need. Jesus, my son is about to die. Come down, heal him. There was no arguing, really, going on here with this man and his response. It was a simple prayer, Jesus, come down, heal my son. I have no other options. You're the only one who can supply my need. And sometimes it is those shortest of prayers that are the mightiest of prayers. You know that most of you have probably attended a prayer service, a Sunday evening service at Redeemer in years past where it's often said that our prayers should be bold, that they should be direct to the Lord, that they should be brief, that we don't have to emphasize using many words, and they should be biblical, they should be based on the scriptures. And I think you have an example of that kind of prayer. Sir, come down. It's bold. It's brief. Sir, come down. Just a few words. And because it's in the Bible, it's biblical as well. Such a sincere need. What a contrast that we see with these crowds looking for the sensation and not the salvation. Well, John has introduced us to our need for having a sincere faith, a needy faith. And then finally, he will show us what it means to have a growing faith. I heard a story recently from a minister about a member in his congregation that had all throughout his Bible the letters TNT on almost every page of the Bible, next to verses here and there he had on his Bible, TNT. And so this pastor was kind of confused by it. And so he asked, well, what is this all about that you have on almost every page of the Bible? TNT. Of course, maybe you're thinking of the song at this point. But for this man, he was a southerner, and so he had this kind of simplistic way of looking at the scriptures that I so appreciate and enjoy. He said, TNT, tried and true. And it was next to all of these verses that he pointed out in his life. I tried that and found Christ to be true. And that's what we see here in this passage, in this final section where this official, though he's laid out his request to Christ, we'll see in just a moment that Christ will heal his son. And this man does find Christ to be true, tried and true. It's a truth that we often see, see in the scriptures, that the more we trust in Christ, the more we find him, him to be true for our own lives. The more you stand upon his promises, the more steadfast he becomes for you. And it's the truth that this official grows in and taking Jesus at his word. Look at verse 50, Jesus said to him, Go, your son will live. The man believed the word that Jesus had spoke to him and went on his way. What an answer to prayer. You see the official asked Jesus to come down, to go to his house and to perform this miracle. And Jesus says, I don't need to do that. Go, your son will live. No need to stick around here, official. You can go home and receive your son back to you. But what words of comfort in a simple expression from Christ, go, your son's son will live. Words that this official had never heard when he talked to another doctor, another so-called healer, that his son would live. And all it then says about the man's response is that he believed the word that Jesus had spoke to him and went on his way. He tried Jesus and found him to be true to his word. Look again at verse 51. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better. They said to him yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him. The good news comes by way of his servants. But what I love most about this official is that he asks. He asks the question, what does he ask? What time did he get better? You know that he knows the answer to that question. It was when Jesus spoke the words of life. But he asks nonetheless, what time did he get better? Why was he asking that question? Well, it's because he knew that when he heard the time that his son was healed, he would just have his faith explode in love and adoration for this one who has healed his son. He could store it up and never forget that it was Jesus who healed his baby boy. I wonder if you have ever strengthened yourself by Christ's promise this way, asking what time did he fulfill his promise to you so that you can be assured, you can be confident that you have tried him and found him true. Look again at verses 53 and 54. The father knew that that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, your son will live. And he himself believed in all his household. And this was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. When the father found that Jesus' word was true, it says he himself believed. He believed on his way down from Galilee. Doesn't it say that, that he believed Jesus' word and went home? But here again it says he believed, he himself believed. You see what I think John is trying to show by this moving of faith to faith, this kind of growing faith, is that here is a man who went to Jesus with a simple need, a need for healing. But I think what John is trying to show you is that here's a man who went home with a savior. Here's a man that found something far greater than an obscure miracle worker in Galilee. This was the savior of sinners. And so you can see why it says he himself believed again. But it's not just restricted to him, is it? It's also his whole household. And he himself believed in all his household. You can imagine what a legacy to pass on to his household here, that he could say in full confidence, full conviction and assurance, that my son was about to die, but Jesus Christ has made him well, that he is the healer, that he is the great physician, that he can save sinners. And I think you can almost imagine him going around his home and saying, can you believe it? Jesus Christ has healed our baby boy. What a legacy to pass on to his children, to his whole household. How could, I mean, he would have gone with such conviction, pleading with them, I've trusted in Christ, won't you trust in him too? And I think for you parents in the room, you need to know the great significance of your faithful discipleship of your children. Do you know how great a blessing it is for your children to hear consistently that you have seen Christ's promise fulfilled in your own life, that you have tried Christ and found him true for yourselves? And so your children can look upon that and say, yes, that can be mine too. This is the blessing of a growing faith. But as we begin to close, I want to be like John and circle around again once more with you this concept, this important key biblical term of faith. I want to show you, even from this text, three more aspects of faith here in brief order that you must see from this passage. First, you must see that true faith seeks the Savior. In the old monasteries, the first thing that many aspiring monastics would see as they were entering the gates was the question, what do you seek? And that's what they were confronted with. And Jesus asked this often of the crowds that were following him. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken in the wind, a man dressed in fine clothing. And this is a question that is set before you this day. What did you come to seek? Did you come to seek an eloquent delivery? Did you come to seek a show? Or did you come to seek the Savior? Well, the official himself sought Jesus as the only one who could give him what he needed the most at that time, which was a simple healing. But he found him to be a Savior, a Savior that deals with the greatest illness of our souls, that illness of sin, that without his help we can do nothing for ourselves. And so you must come to him as that true great physician. You must seek him as the Savior. And second, I want you to see that true faith is satisfied with his words. The crowds that John is speaking about follow Jesus for those signs and wonders, but true believers follow Christ because of his words. You may have noticed in your own reading on your own time, but in John chapter four, there's a great contrast that's being made between the Samaritans and the Galileans. The Galileans were the ones that were expected to have a favorable reception of Christ, but it's actually the Samaritans that had a much more favorable response. And perhaps you remember what Jesus did there as he speaks to the woman at the well. And there's this word that breaks out throughout all of Samaria, and many came and believed in Christ. But I hope you can see here in verse 41 of John chapter four how different it was for the Samaritans and the Galileans. Why does it say that they believed? Well, it says, and many more believed because of his words. That's the most important thing we could probably see from this text. It's that true faith is faith in Christ's word of promise. Those who are in it for the show, their faith will come and go as quickly as it entered in. But those who believe on the basis of Christ's word build their foundation on the rock. And I think the real meaning why John is saying that this story is the second sign that Jesus had performed here in this region is that it is a glorious sign. Jesus didn't have to put on a performance to show that he can heal someone. All he had to do was utter a simple word. And that's the power of God's word. It's just a simple word that speaks all things into existence. It's just a simple word that can utter forgiveness of sins. You were forgiven. It's just a simple word that can say to Lazarus in the tombs, come forth, and he comes out. And there will be a simple word that is uttered to every single one of us when we are dead and gone that Christ will utter, come out of your graves, and then we will enter into life eternal. And so it is his words that we are to be satisfied with, not to go seeking after signs and wonders. But lastly, I want you to see it's that true faith shall turn to sight. And that's kind of the point that is growing here in this passage. You see this official who is growing in faith. He is believing in Christ and having him confirm himself to him more and more. And I think there is something that's wonderful about when faith grows. When faith grows to its fullest, it will turn to sight. When faith reaches its terminal point, it will turn to being in the presence of God. On most nights before bed, I have been reading through the memoirs of Thomas Boston who lived in the 18th century and ministered in Ettrick, Scotland. Perhaps one of my favorite lines in this whole book didn't even come from him, but it was a story that he recounts about meeting with one of his ruling elders on his deathbed. And he wrote this about the whole encounter. On Thursday, death approached him fast, and he died that day. His brother saw him alive but unable to speak, and he was buried on that Friday afternoon. He died in hopes of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Among his last words were, farewell sun, moon, and stars, farewell dear minister, and farewell the Bible. It's quite a saying. Here's a man who died in faith, knowing that on the other side of this life, there will be a time when the Bible is no longer necessary, because that faith shall turn to sight. One day, your faith will grow to that kind of fullness where you no longer need the Bible, but it's only coming in the next life. One day, your faith will turn to sight when you will see him in his beauty, and you will say, what a Savior, what a merciful Lord. I hope your faith is growing in eternity. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you that your word does give life, and we know that we are prone to harden our hearts and to close our ears to listening to your word, and so Lord, we do pray that you would give us soft hearts, that we might go from this place and store up your word in our hearts, that we might treasure Christ our King, and we pray this in his name. Amen.